Page 4 of Between Bloode and Death (Between the Shadows #5)

CHAPTER

FOUR

Two days later, Val found Talon at the Ribald Unicorn, the popular bar he ran in the bazaar.

The bar catered to magir of all kinds but few humans.

Val, who served drinks and pretended to be little more than a lowly earth witch, was welcome.

Warlocks, the witches’ evil, human counterparts, always made too much drama and thus had been banned.

Val stood in the back of the bar in the shadows and watched Talon argue with two druids about something, his hands flailing as he emphasized his point.

Her best friend and former lover should have been a wolf. There was something playful yet dangerous about him. His sandy-blond hair needed a cut, and his light gold eyes held more secrets and sadness than a guy his age should have.

Always popular with the ladies, Talon had a strong, rangy body when human. In his avian form, as a large golden eagle, his wingspan, sharp talons, and even sharper beak warned prey to be wary.

He should have led his own flock. Before his family and mate had died, he might have. But the same events that had ruined her future had also ended his and put them on very different paths.

Now the leader of a rag-tag band of shapeshifters, Talon loosely led the Beast Brigade—his goofy choice of a name. They were twenty members strong at last count and had a mix of raptors, felines, wolves, two bears, and if she wasn’t mistaken, a house cat and a dog.

Shapeshifters, unlike lycans and special werebeasts, didn’t have extra magic in their shifted forms. Shifters were either human or animal with no in-between. No extra power, no weird magic but their ability to shift shape.

Except for Talon, who she knew was a lot more than just a golden eagle in shifted form. She’d seen the guy yank a lycan off her feet and fly with her. No normal eagle could do that.

But she let him have his secrets. She had more than her share, for sure.

Masquerading as a normal human server at the bar, the spell that masked her scent and features would last a solid month before she’d have to take it again. Val had been using spells to mask herself for over a decade, sadly used to the need to hide.

She’d bartered for this potion from a coven down in Oregon that didn’t know her. Now, she had sharper features, blue eyes, and short black hair. Her body remained the same, average height and weight for a human woman. Nothing outstanding except for a dimple when she smiled.

She also wore a subtle perfume that helped disguise the scent of necromantic power, to stem her paranoia. In the weeks since she’d begun using this particular disguise, no one had questioned it. With Talon as her supervisor, no one would be the wiser.

As if thinking about him summoned him, he turned to wave at her.

She waved back, remaining in the shadows.

The druid with him growled, “Can’t believe you think I’d fall for that one. Get lost, birdie.”

Talon grinned. “Say what you want, Harry, but you still need to pay off your bar tab at some point. Give me a spell to make my lemon tree grow and I’ll knock fifty bucks off.”

Harry the Heretic scowled. “I’ll think about it.” He slid into the floor and vanished.

Talon shook his head. “Show off.”

The area looked packed, as usual. The bar did a lucrative business catering to all manner of magir. Mostly mages and shapeshifters and always a dozen or more witches. A few lycans with the occasional nymph or visiting fae normally stood out.

The bazaar sold all kinds of magical constructs. Most shoppers were looking for things they couldn’t find in the human stores. Usually fae, celestial, and even the occasional demonic component. But the marketplace also had a lot of crafts shipped in from other realms.

Talon joined her after checking in on a few tables. He slung an arm around her shoulders and walked her down the hall to his office. “What’s up? Did you get us a witch?”

She nodded. “Ashia Cane, former head of the Emerald Cauldron Coven.”

He snorted. “What a stupid name for a coven. It’s like everyone in Seattle names everything after the Emerald City or throws ‘Rainier’ into their title.” He had to be thinking about the Rainier Mage Council. Plunking his butt into the creaky chair behind his desk, he asked, “Any problems?”

“Not with Grizz by my side. I’m telling you. He’s a game changer.”

“Good. Just don’t let any of the gargoyles in the bazaar see him, or there’ll be questions.”

“I’m not an idiot.” She gave him a onceover.

He sighed. “Go ahead. Say it. You know you want to. ‘I’m not an idiot like…’”

“You, you big idiot.”

He groaned and banged his head on his desk.

“Talon, the Crimson Claw pack is still mad at us. I can’t blame them. Just because you tricked Riley into owing you a favor doesn’t mean she’ll protect us when we need it. We can’t count on her after that stunt you pulled.”

Having a lycan berserker for support would really, really help. Berserkers were superpowered lycan warriors that lycan packs fought over. They didn’t often bother with those outside their plays for territory.

So why did the pack hate them? Or rather, hate Talon? Because he’d poisoned Riley and her cousin—the alpha-in-waiting of the most powerful pack in the Pacific Northwest—in a bid to get rid of the evil sorcerer plaguing the bazaar.

Val understood why he’d done it, but he’d gone about it all wrong. She never would have poisoned the lycans to force them to help. Blackmail, maybe a little black magic. Sure. But nearly killing them?

She could see the guilt he tried to hide behind humor as he sat straighter and ran a hand through his mussed hair. She knew he genuinely liked Riley and had been relieved to see her survive. Unfortunately, lycans were known to hold grudges.

“Riley made a blood-oath,” Talon said. “She’ll hold to it.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“Well, maybe we won’t need her. You got a freaky gargoyle to help us. And a strong witch. Between them and the dead lycans, mages, witches, and ghouls you’ve been collecting, we’ll have the numbers to fight against Vladimir’s army, right?”

“I hope,” she muttered, wishing their plan didn’t feel so half-assed. “What about the shifters? Are they still in on this battle?”

“Maybe. But they won’t do it for free. We need to pay them.”

“With what money?” It had taken all she had to pay for her transportation to and from Romania in addition to information leading to Grizz.

“We need better digs, too. Our pack house is pretty shitty.”

“That’s what you get when you take over a rundown house rumored to be the site of black magic and blood rituals.” She frowned at him. “I told you we’d find a better place. That house is corrupted, Talon.”

“Whatever. It’s just a house.”

“Hey, you get a dark stain on your soul, that’s a problem.

Vladimir will exploit any hint of hell-taint he can.

We just got rid of that other sorcerer and the monsters he tried pulling from hell.

You know Vladimir is three times as bad.

” She frowned. “I still can’t get a handle on why he’s doing what he’s doing. ”

“Power, why else?”

“Yeah, but why here? Why now after so long spent hiding?” She sighed. “It’s been twenty years.”

“I know that, trust me.” He glanced down at his desk, but she could sense his sorrow, so thick and cloying, tying them together. “Ava would have been thirty-two today, you know.”

Val rounded the desk to put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “I know. I’m sorry.”

He put his hand over hers. “Me too. I still miss her. How fucked up is that?”

For Talon to still miss the young girl he’d lost twenty years ago, back when he himself had only been a young boy, spoke to their connection. Val knew, as did her friend, that he’d lost his mate. Shapeshifters weren’t known for having more than one.

Which explained his reckless behavior, his inability to lead a fulfilling or uplifting life. Talon lived to drink and party when not planning on avenging his beloved’s death, a retaliation he had no intention of surviving.

Yet she loved him too much to let him go. The brother she’d never had, since hers had been taken so long ago, Talon gave her the connection of family she sorely missed.

She sighed.

“A lot of sighing from you today.” He chuckled as he pushed back his chair, making her move, and stood. “The bar’s packed. Let’s try to act normal and make some money. We’ll get takeout on the way home.”

“Chinese?”

“As long as I get more than two egg rolls, you’re on.”

“Fine. But we need to seriously get our act together. I know we have a general strategy, but if it doesn’t get more specific, we’re all going to die.”

“That’s the plan though, isn’t it?” He asked, his smile sharp.

“Maybe, but not before that asshole pays for what he did.” Val had no intention of dying before she’d made Vladimir suffer for murdering her family.

They’d come so close to the end. So much sacrifice and loss, so much work, and they had their target in sight. Spectre was in fact Vladimir. And she had a face to go with the name, finally.

She refused to let haste or sloppiness ruin their endgame.

Talon nodded. “You’re right. Chinese food and revenge. It’s a date.”

She hadn’t counted on a vampire ruining their plans…